Hey, nobody's perfect.
Avengers: Endgame might be the biggest movie in the world, but that doesn't mean that it's
immune from those nagging continuity errors that can be found in virtually every Hollywood
production, including many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe entries that came before it.
In case you're not hip to the lingo, a "continuity error," such as the ones that plagued 2008's
Iron Man, usually happens when a cut between scenes imply a series of events that, well,
shouldn't be possible, such as a character's drink suddenly going from empty to full from
one shot to the next.
In Endgame, fans have spotted a pretty egregious example, and it has to do with Scott Lang.
You may only want to keep watching if you've seen the flick, because we'll be getting into
some SPOILERS.
The glitch occurs near the end of the film, during the monumental battle between Thanos
and his invading forces and the Avengers, alongside all of the returned heroes and the
entire Wakandan army.
But you don't need a whole recap, right?
"Avengers!
So they're fighting this purple guy over the universe, and then he won, and now you're
here…
Anyway."
During the melee, Lang and Hope Van Dyne are making their way through the chaos in an attempt
to reach Scott's van, still housing the Quantum Tunnel.
It's a nifty little scene, with Ant-Man and the Wasp suddenly thrust back into action
together once again… but the very next shot is a wide one of the two opposing forces clashing
on the battlefield.
There, in the middle of it all, is Lang in his Giant-Man form.
Whoops!
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have been going gangbusters explaining to the press
some of Endgame's perceived plot holes and mistakes, but unless they're going to tell
us that it was actually Hank Pym or Bill Foster wearing an extra Ant-Man suit or something,
we're pretty sure this is a big old fat error that falls directly on the film's editors.
Film productions generally employ one or more "script supervisors" whose job it is to make
sure that seemingly insignificant details remain consistent between multiple takes of
the same scene.
When they drop the ball, things can start getting a little glitchy, but often, such
as in the case of this scene, it comes down to a simple oversight during the editing stage.
If the sequence had been cut differently, it may have appeared that Lang had left Van
Dyne on her own in order to "go big" and rejoin the fray, but as it stands, he appears to
be in two places at the same time.
Ant-Man may be resourceful, but he's no Loki.
As we previously mentioned, it can be nearly impossible to squeeze every last continuity
error out of a film, editors are often left with a less-than-desirable choice of shots
to piece together, and continuity can be tough to maintain when various takes of the same
scene are shot weeks apart, for example.
The Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe is no exception, and trained as its rabid fans are
to always be on the lookout for tiny, Easter egg-y details, very few of its continuity
errors go unnoticed.
The "Goofs" section of the IMDb page for inaugural entry Iron Man alone lists a whopping two
dozen mistakes in continuity, including Stark's tip disappearing from the tip jar, the color
of the camera lens on Tony's phone changing between cuts, and even the length of Stark's
goatee going from pencil-thin to full and fuzzy over the course of one short night.
Mistakes such as these are pretty easy to spot if you're on the lookout for them, and
let's face it, the only real surprise here is that this is the only continuity error
that has been spotted in Endgame so far.
With the flick only having been in theaters for a short time, it probably won't be long
before fans going back for repeat viewings point out a bunch more.
Does it seem a little bit ridiculous for such an easily-spotted gaffe to show up in such
a highly-anticipated box office juggernaut of a film?
A little bit, sure.
Does said gaffe diminish our enjoyment of Avengers: Endgame even one iota?
Absolutely not.
Then again, it's a little tougher than usual to zero in on tiny onscreen errors when you're
crying tears of pure joy.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about the Marvel Cinematic Universe are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.